An Update on Scholarly Productivity for Physician Assistant/Associate Faculty.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Professions Education
• Physician Assistant Studies

Background:

• Physician assistant/associate (PA) educators face significant time constraints due to teaching, service, and clinical practice.
• Lack of dedicated research time and scholarship training can lead to decreased motivation, burnout, and low productivity among PA faculty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the current landscape of scholarly activities among PA faculty.
• To identify demographic and academic factors associated with publication productivity in PA education.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the 2019 PA Education Association Faculty and Directors data set.
• Conducted descriptive and bivariate analyses of faculty demographics, academic rank, and publication data.

Main Results:

• Over half (50.3%) of PA faculty reported publishing, with a median of 3 publications.
• Faculty who published were more likely to be male, hold a doctorate, and have academic ranks of professor or associate professor.
• The mean number of peer-reviewed articles was 2; no books or chapters were published.

Conclusions:

• Publication rates among PA faculty have improved but remain slow.
• Gender disparities, time limitations, and funding issues are significant barriers to increased scholarly output in PA education.